ELR Citation: 42 ELR 20105
No(s). B234353 (Cal. Ct. App. 2d Dist. May 10, 2012)

A California appellate court held that the California Coastal Commission exceeded its jurisdiction when it approved amendments to a city's certified local coastal program at the request of state agencies and over the objection of the city. The proposed amendments would override the city's local land use plans and policies and substitute new ones. Specifically, they would allow the state agencies to obtain approval directly from the Coastal Commission for future development and programs, thus enabling the state agencies to avoid having to ask the city for coastal development permits. Section 30515 of the California Coastal Act permits a person to seek a Coastal Commission override to allow the person to undertake a public works project or an energy facility development that would otherwise be prohibited by the land use policies in the local government's certified local coastal program. Here, the proposed amendments do not pertain to a public works project or energy facility. Instead, they would change the city's land use policies and development standards as they would apply to future development plans within the city. The Coastal Act's override provision, therefore, does not apply and the Commission was without jurisdiction to approve the amendments.